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When I practice chromatic scales in octaves, I use 1-5 on white keys, and 1-4 on the black keys. But if you are doing a regular (non-chromatic) scale in octaves, is there any useful fingering for going from one white key to the next? perhaps 1-3,1-4,1-5? Would practicing a fingering like that make me better in the long run?

Yes, I would definitely doing that for say, B major octaves for example on the consecutive black keys. It's a bit harder for me to do that on white keys, however, because of my hand size. It depends on the context, but if it is comfortable to do the 1-3, 1-4, 1-5, then this is the preferred fingering for you. It will help your scales to be clear because the 3-4-5 will keep you grounded while the thumb jumps up to the next note.

if you have a larger hand span, you may try to use 13, 14, 15 alternatively on white keys, especially when you need legato for the octave passage, as my teacher told me. but to me it's a little too much stretch to do it that way for my hands. for fast octave passages (white/black) however, you could just stick to one fingering, because there's no need to connect one octave to next one.

I'm in the learning stage of the Mendelssohn concerto in G minor. In the opening piano solo the pianist plays a D-Major scales in paralell octaves. My hand just won't stretch to the 1-4 on the black keys without creating some sort of tension and eventually hurts my hands. I have to use 1-5 on the scales but I keep my finger higher up on the key istead of near the edge.

I think with most fingering, one has to find what works best for the size and shape of their hands. It's OK to get other's ideas, as they may happen to work for you, but you have to go based on how it feels.

Originally posted by Debussy20: I'm in the learning stage of the Mendelssohn concerto in G minor. In the opening piano solo the pianist plays a D-Major scales in parallel octaves. My hand just won't stretch to the 1-4 on the black keys without creating some sort of tension and eventually hurts my hands. I have to use 1-5 on the scales but I keep my finger higher up on the key istead of near the edge. [/b]

I used to play octaves exclusively with 1-5. Now that I've gained a bit more flexibility in the hand, 1-4 is comfortable for legato passages, and for staccato if it's not too loud. But for the sort of "brilliant" concerto-style octave playing that you have in the Mendelssohn there, I would still do 1-5 all the way--it lets me use more power without worrying about hurting myself while I'm at full stretch. The price you pay is that moving between black and white keys is a little less comfortable so you need to spend more time practising carefully for accuracy--your comment about keeping the fingers higher up the (white) keys is spot on.

If your hands are big enough that 1-4 feels comfortable, then you should use it as much as possible. But those of us with smaller hands have to find ways to work around it.

Originally posted by Debussy20: I'm in the learning stage of the Mendelssohn concerto in G minor. In the opening piano solo the pianist plays a D-Major scales in parallel octaves. My hand just won't stretch to the 1-4 on the black keys without creating some sort of tension and eventually hurts my hands. I have to use 1-5 on the scales but I keep my finger higher up on the key istead of near the edge. [/b]

Originally posted by Debussy20: I'm in the learning stage of the Mendelssohn concerto in G minor. In the opening piano solo the pianist plays a D-Major scales in parallel octaves. My hand just won't stretch to the 1-4 on the black keys without creating some sort of tension and eventually hurts my hands. I have to use 1-5 on the scales but I keep my finger higher up on the key istead of near the edge. [/b]